AS the advance buzz for next Sunday's Oscar Awards builds, a snippet from the show's producers that James Franco and Anne Hathaway's opening musical number will feature "a very exciting and special guest star or two" has everyone wondering if Lady Gaga can top her Grammy stunt with the egg.

AS the advance buzz for next Sunday's Oscar Awards builds, a snippet from the show's producers that James Franco and Anne Hathaway's opening musical number will feature "a very exciting and special guest star or two" has everyone wondering if Lady Gaga can top her Grammy stunt with the egg.

It might, though, be a delivery of another kind that will have everyone talking next weekend. As the curtain came down on NYC fashion week on Thursday, the biggest buzz was about what Hathaway -- who is being dressed by celebrity stylist and reality star Rachel Zoe -- will be wearing during the eight couture changes that she will reportedly be making on the big night.

Zoe, who is eight months pregnant, kept her lips zipped on designer disclosures as she previewed the fall 2011 collections in Manhattan, but she admits to praying that her son won't make a premature debut.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Zoe's fee for dressing Hathaway is "astronomical" -- supposedly close to what L'Wren Scott charged (believed to be in the region of $1m) as the fashion co-ordinator for the entire 2000 Oscars production when, it should be noted, she dressed the orchestra trumpeters in custom Donna Karan. The baby must, of course, wait.

Oops, your slip is showing, Kelly

DESIGNERS Mark Badgley and James Mischka must have thought they hit pay-dirt last week when they decided to put Hollywood hipsters Kelly Osbourne and Rumer Willis in the front row at their show. Apart from the fact that the paparazzi (eager to shoot a face that doesn't herald from Jersey Shore) went wild over the appearance of the youthful duo, Osbourne did the designers the ultimate favour by selecting the dress she'll wear to the Oscars right off their runway.

But the 27-year-old trend-setter also probably made the designers cringe a bit when, in an apparent slip of the tongue, she unwittingly seemed to confirm the long-held (and constantly denied) suggestion that designers often fake the illusion of glamorous fans by paying celebrities (some say by clothes, others insist hard cash is involved) to attend their shows.

Asked why she was only hitting one show last week, Osbourne replied: "I don't know how to say this without being a dick but I'm contracted to only go to this one. And I really wanted to because I'm looking for a dress for the Oscars because I'm doing the red-carpet thingy."

Here's hoping the dress -- a peach, jewel-encrusted number -- gets two thumbs up from the fashion police patrolling the red carpet.

Obsessed with Kate's dress

TALK about Kate Middleton's wedding dress was Topic A among fashionistas last week, with everyone trying to out-do each other by claiming to have the exclusive insider scoop on the secret details of the drama behind the dress.

But Dora Fung, a British editor of Chinese Vogue, slaughtered the competition with stories that conjure up the most amazing peep behind the scenes at Buckingham Palace, where Kate supposedly has a posse of potential designers under virtual lock and key.

"She has people in there just doing shoes. She's got people in there doing the dresses and stuff like that. That's the rumour on the street," Fung told New York magazine, adding that one shoe designer, Adele Clarke, is among those who have "been given a room in the palace . . . I think they've been given places, like 'make the shoe'. It just depends on the day [when it comes to] what she prefers".

Scribes at the magazine correctly pointed out that even if the rumours were false, "it's amusing to know how that people close to The Dress Situation are obsessive and thorough enough for these kinds of stories to come about".

Hillary's in the pink over find

Hillary Clinton is channelling her inner fashionista in the upcoming issue of Harper's Bazaar, talking, among other things, about finding the perfect handbag.

"I have this Ferragamo hot-pink bag that I adore. My view was that I would carry it around only in spring, but it makes me so happy, I'm even lugging it around in January. I mean, how can you be unhappy if you pick up a big pink bag?" says the Secretary of State, who also dishes about one role she'd really like to play in the not-too-distant future. And no, it's not president. Asked if she looks forward to being a grandmother, Clinton replies: "Well, no pressure, because I don't want to be one of those kinds of mothers. But obviously, someday, I'd love it." Asked what kind of grandmother she'd be, she admits: "Probably an unbearable one, the kind who is saying, 'Oh, my gosh, I'll take the child, I'll do whatever you need to get done.'" Chelsea, you have been warned.